The Sparks of Reminiscing
by HanaImakura
Summary: Ralph x Older! Vanellope. Vanellope has lost all of her memories and Ralph has determined to help her to remember everything. This is kind of a lot like Fifty-First Dates with Adam Sandler. I should never have watched that movie.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

One Major Glitch

Something had happened. Maybe a blackout. After all, she didn't know it, but the Surge Protector had been getting more and more worn out. Whatever it was, she had no idea who she was, where she was even from. She did have the odd feeling inside though that something about her had changed from the way it was before. She looked up and around, taking in a brightly colored world of swirls and sugar- the place seemed so familiar, yet so distant. Reaching up to scratch her head, she pulled a gummy bear out of her pitch black hair and examined it. _Why is my hair so messy?_ she thought to herself before tossing the candy aside. A voice came from behind her. "Oh, sweet mother Hubbard! There you are!" when she turned to see who the voice belonged to, she saw a giant of a man with a pair of really huge hands. A "Who a-" escaped her lips before she was pulled into a really warm, concerned embrace. "I was so worried about you, kid! I thought you might disappear!" the man held her tight to his chest, her cheek pressed hard up against him.

She wiggled out of his grasp, catching him by surprise. "Something wrong, kid?" his face melted into concern rather than the joy he had seconds ago. She took a few steps back, looking very confused. "Who are you?" she gestured towards him, "Who am I?" she gestured to herself. Ralph was devastated- suddenly he felt extremely alone, with Vanellope having lost all of her memories. "Oh, no… No, no, no, no…" Ralph covered his face with his hands and sat down on a nearby jawbreaker. Vanellope wondered why the man was upset, since in her point of view, they had only just met. It took a while for Ralph to gather himself back together and come to his senses. When he did, he slowly looked mournfully up at her and said, "The blackout must have wiped your memories clean…" with a sigh. Vanellope slowly approached him and asked, "Well, who am I? Can you tell me anything?". Ralph sighed again. "You… Well, there's really no way anyone can tell someone else who they are… But I can tell you this." he propped his elbows on his knees and leaned in closer. "Your name is Vanellope Von Schweetz. You're the president of this game we're in, Sugar Rush." he laughed a little when he remembered all of their adventures together. It felt like he was reminiscing, which only made it sting more.

Vanellope approached him a bit more, this time looking a bit relieved to at least know her name and position. "Okay. So, can you tell me who you are and how you know me?" her shadow now loomed over him. Then, a realization came into Ralph's eyes. He seemed to snap awake as he realized that Vanellope did not look like the little girl he once knew. She was taller, skinnier, older, and she was very- no, it felt wrong to be thinking about such things at the moment. He shook his head and put his fingers between his eyebrows before meeting her gaze and saying, "My name is Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph, from Fix-It Felix Jr. I'm… Well… I WAS your best friend…". He rose to his feet, a hurt look on his face. "When you were just ten years old…" he turned his back to her slowly and sighed again. "Ten years old? How old am I now, I wonder?" for the first time she took some notice of her height as compared to Ralph and thought about the things that felt amiss when she first woke up just moments ago.

She definitely was not a child anymore. The top of her head came up just about five inches past Ralph's shoulder and her body most certainly did not resemble the imperfections of childhood. Of course, she had a gut feeling that her clothes had never changed, but if that was true, it seemed they had grown with her. She still wore the tiered, chocolate brown skirt, the light teal jacket with pink string, the white, purple and mint green peppermint striped tights and the shining black boots that came up just past her ankles. But her legs, arms and torso were much longer than she thought they should be. She also noticed one other thing- she could not actually see her stomach. Did other girls have these? She had no idea. She finally gave up on thinking about it and looked back up at Ralph's face, since she now had a three-quarter view of him.

His face was no longer in pain. In fact, it was red. Cherry red. "Ralph?" she called," Are you okay? Your face looks… Weird.". Ralph winced. "It's nothing, kid. I was thinking, though… I'm going to have to fill you in on everything that's gone on before the blackout, so we're gonna be spending a lot of time together here in the next few weeks." he almost smiled at the thought. Vanellope thought this was kind of cute, especially when she caught a glimpse of the gap in his teeth before he closed his mouth. "Well, I'm fine with that, Ralph. I'd like to remember anything I can." she beamed, getting pretty close to his face. Ralph's face went crimson again as he laughed a bit and said, "Great. Well, we can start now, if you want. Let's go to Tapper's and we'll start talking there.".


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Effects of Rootbeer

Vanellope and Ralph had just made it to Tapper's, with about five hours remaining until opening time at the arcade. As they made it to their seats, quite a few characters from the other games seemed appalled to see how much Vanellope had been changed by the blackout. A lot of eyes were on her, but she and Ralph never acted as if they noticed. Ralph politely pulled out a stool at the bar for Vanellope and as he reached down to grab her and sit her on the seat, he stopped himself- she was not that little anymore. She could probably get on the seat herself. He was embarrassed of himself for having forgotten that. But Vanellope did not seem to mind, as she just took the seat.

Two rootbeer mugs slid down their way. "So, where should I start…" Ralph tried to take his mind off of the embarrassment. Vanellope nearly jumped up and asked "Maybe when I was born?", which caught Ralph by surprise, as he did not know how to answer. He took a drink from his rootbeer, looked at her and said, "Well, I don't know if I can go back that far- I wasn't in your game when it got plugged in. But I can start with some stories you told me about when you were younger, before I ever met you.". Vanellope's enthusiastic gaze was unblinking. "Alright. Start there." she grinned. Laughing, Ralph started relaying a very comical short story where, once, when she was really small, Vanellope had made a vanilla flavored cake with her father, many years before his code was rewritten and combined with that of Turbo's. Vanellope laughed the entire time and in tears, she said, "So, I must have been pretty hyperactive! I really started jumping on the icing containers and shooting the stuff at him?". Ralph shrugged, laughing a bit himself. "Well, that's what you told me you did." the grin on his face widened.

Ralph spent the next two hours relaying to her the stories she had told him about her childhood and it seemed the night somehow got warmer, friendlier. They went through several mugs of rootbeer and a ton of laughs, as well as a few tears. Vanellope began to feel that she could really trust Ralph and began to open up even more. Suddenly, she almost remembered something herself. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp, cupping her hands to her mouth in shock. "What is it?" Ralph was caught off guard again. She just kept surprising him. "Ralph… I… I think I… Remember something… But…" she closed her eyes tight and shivered," I'm not sure if I should tell you… What it is…".

Ralph saw the sadness in her eyes. He had a hunch about what she was feeling, but did not want to say it. "You can tell me, kid. Trust me." he tried to sound inviting, calming. Vanellope shifted in her seat nervously. "I don't know… There's… This feeling. In my chest and my gut. I have no idea what it is. It makes me feel like I want to continue hanging out like this, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know… It's just uncertain. That's all." Vanellope exhaled a bit loudly, pushed away from the counter and cast her eyes down. This was not exactly the response Ralph had expected, but then again, if she had said what he thought she might, it would have been quite sudden and embarrassing. He was actually somewhat glad that she had said what she did say instead. It would be best if they just remained friends for now. The ice under their feet was still too thin to skate on and any moment, with the wrong shift of weight, the wrong move, it could break and they would fall. They would fall apart.

Vanellope slid off of her seat, looked a little longingly up at Ralph, although it did not last long. "Vanellope, what are you saying?" he reached out a hand to place it on her shoulder, but she moved out of his reach. _I should leave. Now. Before things cave in and just go to all hell._ "I don't know what I'm saying. Not yet, anyway. I think I should go home and get some rest. Good night, Ralph. This was really fun!" Vanellope forced a painful smile up at him- an empty smile. It only drained Ralph's energy just looking at it. He felt sorry for her, but he decided he should just let her go for now. "Good night, kiddo. Sweet dreams." he could not bring himself to smile even a forced smile. He just waved at her slowly as he watched her disappear through the front doors of Tapper's. When she was gone, he sighed a long, drawn out sigh. This was going to take a long time.


	3. Chapter 3

The Sparks of Reminiscing Chapter 3:

Something There That Wasn't There Before

It took a while, but Vanellope had finally found her old hideout. Thinking about the

things that Ralph had told her back at Tapper's also made her think of the way his face had

looked when he seemed to be reminiscing. _It was so… So… Something. I can't figure it out._ She

sighed and dropped down on her shortcake bed. She rolled onto her side, reached out, grabbed

her gummy bear, held it out and stared intently into it's nearly nonexistent eyes. It was as if she

was hoping that the answer to her question was suspended in the gelatin of the candy.

When she did not find anything, still lost and confused, she drew the bear in and hugged

it tight. _This is weird. This is really weird. _She thought to herself, eyes still wide open. The way

he looked, she thought, was somehow… Adorable. But she still felt that she barely knew him at

all. This is what was making her think that the feeling was so weird. She closed her eyes and

tried to stop thinking about him, but the image of that almost faraway look in his eyes and that

goofy smile with the gap between his teeth only faded when she at last drifted off.

Back in Fix-It Felix Jr., Ralph was having a dilemma of his own. Sure, he made it alright

over to his new house, but something was bugging him. _Why did Vanellope leave so early?_ The

question kept running through his head, even when he knew he did not have the answer. He laid

there on his bed, covers pulled up, hands up behind his head, staring at the ceiling in thought.

The only source of light, or rather, the only one Ralph preferred at night, was the moon and the

stars pouring their energy down through his window and across his lost and confused expression.

He knew it probably should not have bugged him, but somehow, it did. Like the image of his

face in Vanellope's mind over in Sugar Rush, the question never went away until he fell asleep.

Morning soon came and the arcade had opened. Kids were scampering around, playing

this game and that. Sugar Rush was one of the more busy games for most of the day. But during

the small breaks which the racers got from the players, Vanellope kept wondering the same

question, wondering if she would ever discover the answer. _I know I seemed a bit upset when I _

_left him last night… But maybe… Just maybe we can talk again tonight. _she thought. _Then maybe_

_I can finally get some answers. _Candlehead was first to notice Vanellope's new appearance and

her distressed expression. "Vanellope, is that you? Are you okay?" Candlehead slowly peeked

around the corner of one of the bleacher stands. Vanellope had taken to hiding in the alleyways

between them during some of the breaks.

Vanellope looked a little caught off-guard. "Oh! Candlehead! It's you!" she sounded

relieved. "Yeah, it's just me. What's wrong, Vanellope?" Candlehead looked genuinely

concerned. Though she no longer remembered it, when Vanellope's code was restored,

Candlehead had of course been the first one to blame Taffyta for her behavior, but she had

almost immediately made up for it by being the first one to grab Vanellope's hand and include

her back into the group. Vanellope was quiet for a moment before answering, "Well, the problem

is that I'm having trouble identifying something…". Candlehead leaned in, looking interested.

"Do you have any idea of what it could be?" she asked. Vanellope looked down at her feet for a

moment. "Well… I don't know if I can describe it… It kind of… Kind of makes me feel

happy… But I don't really know why. I don't think it's the normal kind of happiness, either. And

I think I only feel it when I'm around…" as Vanellope's face flushed a bit, Candlehead's eyes

opened wide as if realizing something, but she was somehow unable to reply before Vanellope,

in a small and embarrassed voice, followed up with, "I think I only feel it when I'm around

Ralph… But I'm not entirely sure…".

Back in Fix-It Felix Jr., Ralph was dropping some bricks on Felix's head in a

demonstration to show how the game was played when, just for a brief moment, he stopped,

looked across the way towards Sugar Rush and noticed when some racers raced right past two

small figures which were hard to make out, but something told him that one of them was

Vanellope. _I wonder what she's thinking about right now?_ He almost got lost in this thought and

forgot for a split second to drop more bricks. "Hey, brother! What're ya doin'?! Come on! We

gotta show the gamers what this game's all about!" came Felix's voice from below, waking

Ralph from his thoughts. Ralph was able to shake it all off for the day, but Vanellope's question

seemed to bother her all day, every chance it got.

She almost jumped in surprise when later, she heard a familiar voice call out from behind

her as she was bent forward, trying to fix a few problems under the hood of her kart. The hood

nearly snapped shut on her. "Ouch!" she yelled out when it hit her square in the back and on her

head. "You okay there, guttersnipe?" Ralph would have almost laughed if she had not sounded

actually hurt- the way she kicked up her feet would have done it. Vanellope crawled back out of

the kart, rubbing the back of her head to ease the pain and turned to see Ralph towering over her.

"Oh! Ralph! Hi there! Umm…" she felt her cheeks rouging and she tried her best to keep from

shuffling her feet. Ralph finally realized why she had suddenly left the night before because of

this reaction. He smiled a bit just thinking about it and asked, "Hey, kiddo. Ya wanna go to

Tapper's tonight? We can pick up where we left off on the stories if you want.".

Though she tried her best not to show it, these words seemed to lift Vanellope's chin up

and she almost beamed not just with a smile, but with her bright red blush as well. "I'd really

like that, Ralph." she barely hid the giggle that surfaced through her throat.


	4. Chapter 4

The Sparks of Reminiscing Ch. 4:

Secrets Untold

Just like the night before, Ralph lead Vanellope over to her seat and pulled it out for her, just as two root beers slid their way. Ralph took a moment to settle himself down in the seat next to her, and before he began to speak, he took a drink from the mug in front of him. Vanellope began to toss back her head, laughing out loud, and Ralph could not see what was so hilarious at first. "Ralph, you've got a root beer 'stache!" Vanellope was in stitches. Embarrassed, Ralph tried to laugh it off with her and wipe it away. "Heh… Yeah. It's always pretty funny when someone gets one of those." Ralph grinned at her, still trying to hide the embarrassment. The blush returned to Vanellope's face as she suddenly began to fidget. "Well, actually… More than funny, I think it was… It was kinda…" her voice kept trailing off.

Ralph chuckled a bit more, causing Vanellope to look up before finishing what she was going to say. Anything to keep either of them from admitting anything so early. The ice was still very thin, but it was getting thicker over time. He pointed a finger at her face, laughed and said, "Look, you've got one too, guttersnipe." before taking the liberty of wiping it off of her face for her. This practically melted her, although she tried her best not to show it at all. He was just so warm and inviting to the touch that she just wanted to crawl into his arms, throw her arms around him and just stay that way forever. Then, it seemed, she was not doing a very good job of hiding these feelings, as Ralph's reaction after realizing what he did was even more embarrassing. He pulled back almost immediately and said, "Oh! Sorry, Vanellope… Didn't mean to embarrass ya more…", looking as if those same feelings were mutual.

Vanellope reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Ralph. Lets just start back on those stories." she reassured him and reminded him about what they actually came there to do. "Alright" Ralph seemed to brighten up "Where did we leave off last time?". Vanellope, glad to see that Ralph was getting over it too, leaned forward with a look of enthusiasm. "The last story was the one where I first started messing around with Sour Bill!" she answered and they both laughed aloud. Ralph dried one of his eyes and said, "Yeah, when you were a kid, you weren't the type ta just sit around without trying ta bug anyone first.". Vanellope giggled and kicked her feet around a bit. She liked these stories of her adventures in childhood. But the thing she loved more than them was… Well, the one thing she loved more than anything, actually, was just something she would not yet admit to herself or to anyone else. Ralph must have been thinking the same things, or else he would not have gotten so embarrassed when she did. _It must be something… Wonderful, this feeling…_ she thought to herself as she listened to Ralph elaborating on another one of her grand escapades. _But,_ she wondered, _when are we ever going to get to the beginning of our story?_.

Finishing up another wonderful tale, Ralph and Vanellope were both overflowing with laughter and were going through their third set of root beer mugs. "But", Ralph grinned an even bigger grin than Vanellope had ever seen before on his face, "The most epic tale began when I first decided to game jump.". _Now_, Vanellope thought, _ comes the beginning of our story together_ and there spread a rather lovely, romantic expression over her features at the thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the wait! I'll be uploading a new chapter as soon as I possibly can! Right now, I'm stuck doing finals for classes, but after that, I'm free to keep writing! **** So please keep holding on!**


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